Yarn spinning device



Sheet Filed Jan. 4, 1968 Fig.

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YARN SPINNING DEVICE Filed Jan. 4, 1968 Sheet 2 of 2 Fig- 2 Fig. 3

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United States Patent 3,430,430 YARN SPINNING DEVICE William Kenneth Hope, 523 W. 4th Ave., Gastonia, N.C. 28052 Filed Jan. 4, 1968, Ser. No. 695,662 US. Cl. 57-76 Int. Cl. D0111 1/08, 7/74 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention generally relates to a centrifugal yarn spinning or twisting apparatus including a yarn guide and drafting rollers disposed centrally of a substantialy cylindrical cup-shaped yarn container. The yarn container is rotated at a relatively high rotational speed with the yarn guide being rotated at a speed dependent upon the rate of yarn feed therethrough. The yarn guide and relating drafting rollers are oscillated longitudinally in relation to the container to spin or twist the yarn evenly on the interior of the container. The fibers, slivers or yarn are fed by drafting rollers to the yarn guide at the rotational center of the yarn guide and are then discharged onto the interior surface of the container by the effects of air resistance and centrifugal force.

An object of the present invention is to provide a centrifugal yarn spinning and twisting apparatus including a centrifugal container having a yarn guide located centrally therein. The container rotates at a high speed and the yarn guide is longitudinally oscillatable in relation to the container and is rotated in response to the rate of feed of the yarn therethrough.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a centrifugal yarn spinning or twisting device for textile fibers which is relatively simple in construction, effective for laying yarn on the inner surface of the container and long lasting and dependable in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view of the yarn spinning apparatus illustrating the relation of the components thereof;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the structural details of the yarn container and the yarn laid thereon;

FIGURE 3 is a plan, sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 33 of FIGURE 1 illustrating further structural details of the drive mechanism for the container and yarn guide; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the yarn guide.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral generally designates the yarn spinning or twisting apparatus of the present invention which includes a substantially cylindrical yarn container 12 having a bottom wall 14 and an open top 16. The center of the bottom 3,430,430 Patented Mar. 4, 1969 14 is provided with a depending hollow shaft 18 having a bore 20 extending longitudinally therethrough. The shaft 18 is supported from a bracket 22 having a bore 24 therethrough at one end thereof. The bore 24 receives the shaft 18 therethrough and the upper surface of the bracket 22 has a recess 26 therein receiving a bearing assembly 28 which rotatably supports the container 12 and shaft 18 from the bracket 22 for relatively high speed rotation.

At the other end of the bracket 22, there is supported a fixed supporting post 30 which is clamped in position by a split clamp assembly 32 formed at the end of the bracket 22. The bracket structure 22 is supported in any suitable manner from a convenient supporting structure which may be conventional in nature.

Journalled on the post 30 is a sleeve 34 which has a belt pulley 36 at the lower end thereof anchored thereto by suitable setscrews 38 or the like and which receives a drive belt 40 from a suitable source of power of a conventional nature such as a suitable belt drive pulley connected with a suitable motor or other source of power. The pulley 36 is also keyed to the sleeve 34 by a longitudinal key 42 which extends throughout the length of the sleeve 34 and also serves to key a pulley 44 to the sleeve 34 for driving a belt 46 which is engaged with a pulley 48 which is engaged with and rigid with the shaft 18 fixed to the container 12. Thus, drive force is transmitted to the container 12 through the belt 40, pulley 36, sleeve 34, pulley 44, belt 46, pulley 48, shaft 18 to the container 12 for rotating the container 12 at a high speed.

Extending longitudinally through the bore 20 is an elongated shaft 50 which is provided with a longitudinal groove 52 in the outer surface thereof for receiving a key 54 that is anchored in a recess in the bore 20 of the shaft 18 thus locking the shaft 50 to the shaft 18 for simultaneous rotation but enabling longitudinal oscillation or reciprocation of the shaft 50 within the bore 20. The bore 20 is provided with longitudinally spaced bearing sleeves 56 therein forming a bearing surface for longitudinal oscillation of the shaft 50 in relation to the shaft 18 with the driving force of the shaft 18 being transmitted to the shaft 50 by the key 54 that is rigid with the shaft 18 and slidably received in the longitudinal keyway 52 in the shaft 50. Connected to the bottom of the shaft 50 as a suitable power source 58 for imparting longitudinal oscillation or reciprocation to the shaft 50 with this structure being a conventional drive device for imparting longitudinal oscillation to the shaft 50 as it rotates at a high rate of speed.

The upper end of the rod 50 which extends interiorly of the container 12 is provided with a floating yarn guide 60 having a depending stud or pin 62 centrally thereon which is received within a recess 64 in the upper end of the shaft 50. A suitable bearing 66 is provided between the pin 62 and the wall of the recess 64. The thread guide 60 is preferably cylindrical and provided with a passageway or orifice 68 therein which has an upper end coincidental with the rotational center of the shaft 50 and the thread guide 60 and an outer end 70 opening laterally from the peripheral wall of the thread guide 60 as illus trated in FIGURE 4.

Disposed above and in alignment with the thread guide 60, there is provided a feed mechanism generally designated by the numeral 72 for the fibers or yarn 74 being spun. The feed mechanism is in the form of drafting rollers 76 and 78 supported by suitable shafting 80 carried by a bracket or other support structure 82 with the rollers being driven by a suitable gear drive 84. Drafting rollers of this type are well-known in the textile industry and are oriented in close proximity to the thread guide 60 with the upper end of the orifice 68 being in alignment with the tangential line extending between the rollers 76 and 78 as indicated by the yarn 74 in FIGURE 1. While only a single set of rollers has been illustrated, it is pointed out that 3 or 4 sets of rollers are usually employed. Each set of drafting rollers run faster than the preceding set to accomplish a drawing out or lengthening of fibers which comprise the sliver.

A centering device 86 is provided for the yarn 74 intermediate the drafting roll 72 and the thread guide 60 and includes an aperture or passage 88 forming a guide for the yarn as it proceeds from the drafting rollers 72 to the thread guide 60. This device retains the yarn in a centered position and offsets any tendency of centrifugal force throwing the yarn outwardy between the drafting rollers 72 and the thread guide 60 while it is being twisted. As illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, the yarn which has been laid onto the interior of the container 12 is designated by the numeral 90- and serves to form a yarn package.

The yarn, slivers, or fibers is supplied through the drafting or feed mechanism 72 which are common to the textile industry and are positioned in close proximity to the yarn retainer 88 and the yarn guide 60 and may be partially located inside of the container 12 when the shaft 50, yarn retainer 88 and the drafting or feed mechanism 72 is at its lowest oscillating condition, that is, with the outlet 70 of the orifice 68 being substantially adjacent the bottom 14 of the container 12. The oscillating mechanism 58 will move the guide 60 to the proper position for laying the yarn onto the container 12 or into itself in a layering arrangement. The guide or retainer 88 serves to retain the yarn in a centered position between the drafting roller 72 and the thread guide 60 to prevent ballooning outwardly due to centrifugal forces tending to throw the yarn outwardly between the thread guide 60' and the drafting rollers 72. The drive mechanism for the container may be any conventional drive and the oscillating mechanism may be any conventional oscillating mechanism to oscillate the shaft 50, thread guide 60 and the feeding mechanism 72 and the yarn retainer 86 so that the yarn is spun in a helical and winding motion. Alternatively, the shaft 50 and related structure may be left stationary insofar as longitudinal oscillation is concerned and the container 12 oscillated as well as rotated to provide the same helical or winding motion for the yarn as it is laid onto the interior of the container. The thread guide 60 is attached in such a manner to be semifloating so that it will determine its own speed which is dependent on the inside diameter of the yarn package 90 and this necessitates either increasing the container speed or decreasing the roll feed speed as the yarn inside the diameter decreases. For example, as the yarn package 90 inside diameter decreases, the length of yarn laid onto the package per revolution decreases which in turn causes the guide 60 to revolve slower. This slover revolution of the guide 60, which is semi-floating in relation to the shaft 50 and seeks its own speed, would not give the yarn the same amount of twist per unit of length unless the feed rolls were slowed or the speed of the container 12 is increased in the proper increments. Thus, a suitable device may be incorporated with the drafting rollers to assure a proper tension on the yarn at all times thus automatically decreasing the speed of the rollers as the speed of the yarn being laid onto the container decreases.

The bracket 22 includes an extension 23 having a hearing assembly 29 forming a support for the lower end of the rotatable hollow shaft 18. Also, bracket 82 has an extension 83 which is connected with oscillating device 58 in any suitable manner as at 51 in order to oscillate the feeding mechanism and the guiding mechanism in an identical manner.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A yarn spihning device comprising a substantially cylindrical container adapted to receive yarn on the inner surface thereof, means rotating said container at a high rotational speed, a yarn guide disposed centrally within the container, a yarn extending through the yarn guide and being laid onto the interior of the container during high speed rotation thereof, said yarn guide being rotatable with the container, feed means for feeding the yarn to the yarn guide at the center of rotation thereof whereby the yarn will be twisted and spun onto the interior of the container during high speed rotation thereof, and means causing relative longitudinal oscillation between the container and yarn guide whereby the yarn will be laid onto the interior surface of the container along a length thereof corresponding to the relative oscillation between the container and yarn guide.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for driving a container includes a hollow shaft extending from an end wall thereof, bracket means journalling said hollow shaft for rotation about the longi tudinal axis of the container, said shaft being hollow and including an elongated shaft keyed thereto and oscillating therein, said shaft having one end thereof extending interiorly of the container and mounting said yarn guide thereon for relative rotation therewith, and means connected to the other end of said shaft for oscillating the shaft during rotation thereof with the container.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 together with a yarn retaining means disposed between the feed mechanism and the yarn guide to retain the yarn in alignment with the yarn guide during movement between the feed mechanism and the yarn guide.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said yarn guide includes an orifice therethrough communicating with the end surface thereof in alignment with the discharge of the yarn feeding mechanism and the other end of the orifice being laterally disposed for spinning the yarn onto the interior of the container.

5. In a yarn spinning device of the type having a cylindrical container with the yarn being laid onto the inner surface during high speed rotation thereof, that improvement comprising a yarn guide having an orifice extending therethrough, a shank on said guide being freely rotatably supported for rotation at a speed corresponding to the speed of rotation of the container and the linear dimension of the yarn passing through the orifice, one end of said orifice corresponding with the center of rotation of the guide for twisting the yarn, the other end of said orifice opening radially outwardly of said guide.

6. The structure as defined in claim 5 wherein said guide is mounted on a support shaft interconnected with said container to provide simultaneous rotation thereof and relative oscillation along the rotational axis thereof for laying the yarn on the container in a spiral wound pattern.

7. The structure as defined in claim 6 wherein a yarn retainer is provided adjacent the yarn guide to keep the yarn aligned with the orifice in the yarn guide.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,941,348 6/1960 Biche et a1 57--76 XR 2,983,025 5/1961 Frickert 57-76 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 566,362 8/1957 Italy.

DONALD E. WATKINS, Primary Examiner. 

